STL Files (for
the building of Laser Sintering parts)
The .STL
file format has become the Rapid Prototyping industry's defacto
standard data transmission format and is the format required
to interact with Selective Laser Sintering machines. This
format approximates the surfaces of a solid model with triangles
and lacks engineering data! The STL format was designed to
give just the amount of data in the form of meshes to operate
the Selective Laser Sintering machines but not actual engineering
data. This format is very difficult to utilize for any purposes
other that the 3D building we do in these machine, not good
for reverse engineering.
Almost
all of today's CAD systems are capable of producing an STL
file. For the user the process is often as simple as selecting
File, Save As, STL. Below are steps for producing high quality
STL files from a number of today's leading CAD systems. In
all cases, export your STL file as a Binary file. This saves
on time and file size.
(Please
note, these are only general guidelines and may not work or
produce the best possible STL file in some cases. Please consult
you user's guide or the software's developers for more information
or technical support. Should we determine that your STL file
is not adequate for production we will contact you for an
updated file.)
AutoCAD
Your design must be a three-dimensional solid
object to output an STL file.
1. Set
the FACETRES = 10
2. Use the STLOUT command to export your STL file
Alibre
1. File
2. Export
3. Save As > STL
4. Enter File Name
5. Save
I-DEAS
1. File
> Export > Rapid Prototype File > OK
2. Select the Part to be Prototyped
3. Select Prototype Device > SLA500.dat > OK
4. Set absolute facet deviation to 0.000395
5. Select Binary > OK
IronCAD
1. Part
Properties > Rendering
2. Set Facet Surface Smoothing to 150
3. File > Export
4. Choose .STL
Mechanical
Desktop
1. Make
sure you save your work before attempting this procedure.
2. Set the FACETRES = 6 (As above in AutoCAD instructions)
3. You will have to "Explode" your parametric solid
to export an .stl output (Special note: DO NOT save your work
after "Exploding")
4. Use the STLOUT command to export your STL file.
ProE
1. File
> Export > Model
2. STL
3. Set chord height to 0. The field will be replaced by minimum
acceptable value.
4. Set Angle Control to 1
5. OK
SolidDesigner
1. File
> External > Save STL
2. Select Binary Mode
3. Select Part
4. Enter filename
5. Enter Max Deviation Distance of .01mm
6. Click OK
SolidEdge
1. File
> Save As
2. Set Save As Type to STL
3. Options
4. Set Conversion Tolerance to 0.001in. or .0254mm.
5. Set Surface Plane Angle to 45.00º
6. Save
SolidWorks
1. Tools
> Options > Export
2. STL Options
3. Set Quality to Fine
4. File > Save As
5. Set Save As Type to STL
6. Save
Unigraphics
1. File
> Export > Rapid Prototyping
2. Set Output type to Binary
3. Set Triangle Tolerance to 0.0025
4. Set Adjacency Tolerance to 0.12
5. Set Auto Normal Gen to On
6. Set Normal Display to Off
7. Set Triangle Display to On
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